Braden Smith produced 14 points and 11 assists to move within one of Bobby Hurley’s NCAA record for career assists and direct No. 18 Purdue to an 80-72 upset of No. 3 Michigan in the Big Ten tournament title game Sunday afternoon in Chicago.
Oscar Cluff (21 points) and Trey Kaufman-Renn (20 points) each scored 12 points in the second half as the seventh-seeded Boilermakers (27-8) used an 11-2 run at the second half’s outset to fuel their first Big Ten tournament title since 2023 and earn a No. 2 seed in the NCAA Tournament..
Fletcher Loyer notched 14 points and five assists as Purdue committed just two turnovers to avenge its 91-80 regular-season home loss to Michigan on Feb. 17.
Yaxel Lendeborg paced the top-seeded Wolverines (31-3) with 20 points. Aday Mara contributed 14 points and seven rebounds while Elliot Cadeau provided 10 points and 10 assists. Nimari Burnett added 12 points.
Due to Michigan’s loss, the NCAA Tournament committee demoted the Wolverines from the No. 2 overall seed to No. 3. Michigan opens its NCAA Tournament journey against either Howard (23-10) or UMBC (24-8) on Thursday in Buffalo, N.Y.
“The lesson that we’ll take away from this will be applied directly to practice as we go and get ready for the NCAA Tournament,” Burnett said. “To be more physical in areas that we need to and to fight through ball screens with a little bit more aggression as far as guards and the bigs doing what they do.”
“Typically, the NCAA Tournament, I don’t think is going to be quite this physical, but you never know,” said Michigan coach Dusty May. “We’ve got to do a better job of adjusting however the game is being called. If it’s called close, we need to adjust. If it’s prison ball, we need to adjust. We have to do a better job.”
Both teams started fast as Michigan canned three of its first four 3-point attempts — two by Burnett — to claim a 13-11 lead in the opening six minutes.
Then the Wolverines missed seven straight 3-point tries while Purdue endured a 3:56 scoreless stretch. Worse yet for the Boilermakers, big men Kaufman-Renn and Cluff both spent time on the bench with two fouls.
With more room available in the post, the teams resumed throwing haymakers. Michigan threw down dunks on three consecutive possessions — including alley-oops from Cadeau to Mara and Mara to Lendeborg — but Purdue countered with a Loyer 4-point play and two productive Cluff postups to stay within 28-26.
But when Cluff picked up his third foul at the 3:14 mark and Morez Johnson Jr. cashed both free throws, Michigan pushed its lead to 32-26. That inspired the Boilers to reel off nine straight points over 1:28 to take a three-point edge. Cadeau’s hesitation drive with one second left made it 38-38 at the break.
Purdue seized control early in the second half as Kaufman-Renn powered his way for six early points to build a 49-40 lead with 14:58 to go.
“Braden did a good job of manipulating the defense,” said Purdue coach Matt Painter. “We set good screens. We had good spacing. And I thought that gave us a lot of confidence in that stretch right there. Then we just kept the lead and kept building on the lead.”
When Smith pump-faked the 7-foot-3 Mara into the air and threw in a 6-footer while drawing a foul, Smith roared and flexed as he walked toward the Purdue bench and fan section. Smith canned the accompanying free throw to make it 58-46 with 12:06 left.
While the Wolverines started having success feeding Mara in the post, they couldn’t get closer than eight until Lendeborg stroked a 3-pointer to cut the margin to 68-63 with 3:47 to go. Purdue answered with a Cluff post-up and two Loyer free throws to restore a nine-point margin. Michigan never got closer than seven after that.
Smith pushed his career assists total to 1,075 in 145 career games — one helper shy of the 1,076 assists that Hurley amassed in 140 games for Duke from 1989-93. Smith figures to break the record in Purdue’s NCAA Tournament opener on Friday against Queens (21-13) in St. Louis.
“Obviously it would have been a little bit better to get it today,” Smith said. “But at the end of the day, we won, and that’s important to me. Obviously it goes a long way when you have a lot of good people that surround myself.
“I thank all my teammates, obviously, throughout my four years who have helped me achieve that. It goes to them just as much as it goes to me.”
–Field Level Media
